Line them up:
Single Ladies (Put a Ring on It)” — complete with all the hip-shaking,
hair-tossing dance moves.
That’s how I’d kick off tonight’s Grammy Awards.
Glamour, personality and fun, fun, fun. In one quick all-star
performance, it would tell the story of popular music now.
It’s been the year of the woman — they’ve dominated
the pop charts, they’ve ruled the concert stage and now they’re the
leading nominees for the Grammys. When Billboard, the music-biz bible,
ranked its top artists for 2009, women took seven of the top 12 slots.
Three of the five biggest singles were by women and the other two were
by the Fergie-fronted Black Eyed Peas. Women headlined four of the
year’s nine biggest tours. Put a ring on it, indeed.
But you’re saying: Dude, this isn’t the first time
women have ruled the radio and the charts. That’s right. It’s been
cyclical, with definable movements each decade: the confessional
singer/songwriters of the ’70s (
Today’s leading ladies are an eclectic lot who share similar characteristics if not sounds — they’re as confidently strong as
“Avatar.” And most of these girls just want to have fun, though
occasionally there’s a message mixed in with those enticing beats.
“To me, pop radio is more fun to listen to than it has been for a long time,” says
Well, at least, it’s a kinder, gentler listen. Thug
rap, a mainstay for most of the decade, was largely absent from Top 40
radio in 2009, and it wasn’t a big year for rock, either, though
Nickelback’s currency continued and Kings of Leon had a banner year
with the Grammy-nominated “Use Somebody,” a romantic rock song with
female appeal. But radio-friendly rockers Daughtry and Green Day
released slow-selling followups to blockbuster albums.
When times are tough, whether because of war or the economy, we want escapist entertainment, not “21 Guns” from Green Day.
“People don’t want to get pummeled,” said
“There always will be disaffected and alienated metalheads. But when
the going gets tough, people want to feel better. People want their
beats with a little sugar on top.”
Enter Fergie and the infectiously optimistic Black Eyed Peas, the forever-rebounding
Gaga, the left-field newcomer who managed to be so out-there weird yet
musically irresistible that the masses were riveted by her contagious
beats and bizarre fashions. “Paparazzi,” “Poker Face” and “Bad Romance”
kept us dancing even if Gaga’s lyrics about fame, sex and desiring your
partner’s disease are as quirky and kinky as her outfits.
The 23-year-old New Yorker may try to pass herself off as an avant-pop performance artist, but she also knows what sells.
“A record-label marketing executive once told me
what really sells records are, without a doubt, clothes and hair,”
Gleason said. And Gaga is off the charts on both counts. The rest of
the ’09 all-stars —
Pink, Rihanna, Fergie and Madonna, the patron saint of all these young
ladies (who had 2009’s second biggest tour, behind U2’s) — are
virtually one-woman fashion shows.
Then there’s
anti-glamour puss. It’s not just the style (or lack of it) but also
knowing how to sell yourself via new media: YouTube, MySpace, Facebook,
Twitter and even the 24/7 gossip forums TMZ and
Did anyone benefit from YouTube more than Boyle? Didn’t even bad news
boost the careers of the battered Rihanna, the interrupted
Taking cues from
radio DJ Dez. Save for Britney and Boyle, these aren’t puppets
manufactured by managers. Many co-write their music (“as a woman, I can
relate to their songs so much more,” Dez says) and plot their own
career moves into such extracurriculars as movies and fashion lines.
These keenly focused female artists have benefited
from the evolution of the record business from physical CDs to digital
music files. Female fans often control the purchasing decisions when it
comes to music and concerts, and they are buying their favorite songs
for their iPods.
“Today’s pop consumer is attuned to singles instead
of buying albums, and women (artists) put out more singles,” explains
Billboard senior editor
While dudes might be obsessed with “
Donahue said teen girls have been reinvigorated by the popularity of
the “Twilight” series of books and movies as well as by the ascent of
pop goddesses
young girls and nostalgia for older girls and moms”) and Lady Gaga
(“she’s crazy, but you’re rooting for her”).
Of course, it’s not just young women — and their moms — consuming today’s diverse menu of women’s music.
“I think the male fan base in this generation is much more open in their willingness to embrace female artists,” said
Guys, too, might be looking for something fresh instead of the same old pop from the Fray,
“The male story and perspective is uninteresting, it’s flat, there’s nothing new,” said
singer/guitarist. “Women’s roles are evolving and changing all the
time. If a woman knows how to tell a story, she’s going to get heard.”
Over the years, great female pop songs have
typically had an unpredictable perspective delivered by a
larger-than-life personality — whether it’s
But line up all those old-school “she-roes” with 2009’s parade of pop
divas and you’ll notice one constant, said
—
(c) 2010, Star Tribune (Minneapolis)
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